Szarzewski and England counterpart Regan will go head to head in the front row and the former is expecting plenty of "unbearable" abuse from his notoriously vocal opposite number.

"I won't pay much attention to him," Szarzewski said.

"He is unbearable because of his behaviour. We know him - he talks a lot and he needs to do something with that.

"He has talked to me a lot, but it is okay because I don't understand English well, so I let it go.

"Whatever happens, we have to ignore it - we cannot allow the team to be punished by losing our cool.

"I hope to punish them (England) within the limits of the game."

However, Szarzewski admits France will be inspired by "a spirit of revenge" against their World Cup conquerors.

Saturday night's Stade de France contest is the first meeting between the sides since Brian Ashton's men destroyed Les Bleus' World Cup dream at the same venue four months ago.

Szarzewski said: "There is always a special rivalry between the French and the English.

"Moreover, we will have a spirit of revenge with us because of the semi-final defeat in the World Cup. You don't forget a defeat as important as that.

"We have to advance and not let that stop us, even though it will remain at the back of our minds. This is a new adventure - a new set of staff, a new system of playing.

"But above all, we want to continue on our push that we've had since the beginning of the tournament."

England's revered forward power built the platform for host nation France's painful World Cup exit.

Stade Francais star Szarzewski knows the physical threat is something France must combat in the quest to preserve an eight-year unbeaten home Six Nations record against England.

"England are a huge team," he told L'Equipe.

"We know England's strong points. They will put a lot of pressure on us in the scrum, in the places where they can win.

"It is very hard to play against them. They have massive, strong and powerful players.

"It is up to us to stand up to them in this area but also to answer them with a game to ruffle them, score tries and win.

"It is a good test, but all the games are tests."

France currently head the Six Nations on points difference from Wales, having beaten Scotland at Murrayfield and Ireland in Paris.